Writing and blogging tips

Having worked as a copywriter in the advertising industry for 5 years, I learned quite a bit about writing headlines. Those short little buggers, just like subject lines, are extremely hard to craft, even for the Don Drapers of the world.

According to Jamie Stilgoe's Guardian article, Google is on a mission to eradicate content farms and poor quality link building. Google is out with a machete to axe any web page with content that doesn't measure up to the quality that was hitherto expected only from principal brands.

Do you create written content? Have you struggled getting that blog idea written? While most of us aren't immune to writer's block, there are ways to work through the block until the words flow again. In this article, we'll discuss 26 Tips, an A-Z guide for bloggers to overcome writer's block and generate new ideas.

If you spend long enough blogging you will come to realise a very simple truth: Bloggers are helpful. It's kinda crazy really. I mean, who would offer you free professional advice when they don't even know you? Who would help you build your audience when they have never even met you?

Two months ago my first novel hit the bookstores. Since then, I've done a number of book talks/signings and have been a guest speaker at events. One of the questions I've frequently been asked is, "What tips do you have for an aspiring novelist?" Here is my list of ten "dos and don'ts."

Some people just get lucky. They appear out of nowhere and rise fast. Their blogs shoot onto awards lists. They get mentioned by the A-listers. They land book deals. Why can't you have the same overnight success? Because it doesn't really exist.

Only a few more days and then we're off and running for this year's National Novel Writing Month. It's a fast-paced, intensive month of writing, and while you don't have to write an actual novel, the goal is to hit 50,000 words. My own first experience with NaNo allowed me to finish my first novel, [...]

GIVEAWAY: Will is generously giving away a Kindle copy of his latest ebook, Writing for the Web, to the person who leaves his favourite comment. Bonus points if you make him laugh! Comment within one week to enter. Good luck! Many writers struggle with MSW addiction. They tell themselves they're not addicted.

Right now you are probably thinking, Wow ... what a unique idea for a Halloween costume. But is it really? Edgar Allan Poe always gets plenty of play come Halloween time, thanks to his reputation for the macabre. And there is perhaps no greater Halloween tradition outside of the pumpkin itself than females donning the sexy nurse/cop/maid costume.

One of the greatest challenges for bloggers is content creation. The second greatest challenge is what happens after that content is created. While promotion is key to a successful blog, the astonishing truth is that most bloggers write an article, hit publish, share across one or two social networks and call it a day.

In 1982, the late founder of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency David Ogilvy issued a memo of 10 incredible writing tips to his staff. Known as "the father of advertising," Ogilvy made sure his employees knew they'd only climb the ladder at his agency if their writing was sharp, clear, and precise.

Does finding the sweet spot for your blog sometimes feel like tuning an old radio? You're trying to get that perfect connection with your readers, but you can't seem to cut through the noise. It's frustrating. You know you're close. You know some of the signal is getting through.

We sometimes talk about web copy and content like they're the same, but they aren't - they complement each other, but they also serve two distinct purposes. Copy, traditionally, is what we use to make the sale. To use Albert Lasker's phrase, it's salesmanship in print (or pixels).

Your precious words. You know they've got to be right to attract the audience you want. You've slaved over them, carefully crafting each phrase. You finally hit "publish," and what happens? Nobody reads them. No comments, no tweets, no sharing on Facebook.

Do you create written content? Have you struggled getting that blog idea written? While most of us aren't immune to writer's block, there are ways to work through the block until the words flow again. In this article, we'll discuss 26 Tips, an A-Z guide for bloggers to overcome writer's block and generate new ideas.

As a writer, I'm a thinker by nature. I need to think about what topics to delve into and how to best express them. But sometimes, thinking can get me into trouble. Maybe you can relate. Often, our thinking goes into overdrive and turns into fixating.

Ever stumbled upon one of those bad horror movies on TV and not been able to turn the channel? It's harder than it should be, isn't it? I admit I'm a sucker for a classic scary movie. Especially on Halloween. I just can't help it.

I had to laugh when I first heard this term, "crappy content syndrome". Ah come on, you know it's funny. We've all had our moments, you know I'm right! Okay, maybe not professional writers but you know who you are! My content was super crappy when I first started blogging.

It might seem like you've done all the hard work after you've written your post, proof-read it, edited it and then finally published it. That's just the start though. If you want anyone to read it, then you need to kick-start the promotion.

I've been learning about content marketing from Copyblogger since the days when its only writer was Brian Clark, and the phrase "content marketing" didn't yet exist. Yep, that was a long time ago. At first I was seduced by Copyblogger.

Not Another Post About Blog Commenting! I know, I know - you've already ploughed through a squillion posts about blog comments this month (I think I have!) So what am I playing at, writing another one?

Tweet Tweet A few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of meeting up with old friends at Fincon, a fantastic personal finance blogger convention put on my buddy Phil Taylor of PTMoney. I contributed to two panels and the one that I wanted to talk about today was titled "Panda, Penguin, and the Future of ...

This month's writing prompt is a bit different. Instead of laying out a specific project, I want you to choose one or more ways that you commit to and complete your writing this month. For those of you writing a novel for Nanowrimo, you're set.

Average copywriters write average sentences. You, I'm guessing, don't want to be average. You want to be great. You believe you can be remarkable. That means you need to write damn good sentences ... without even thinking about it ... day in and day out. Do that and you'll become an unstoppable writing machine.